Sometimes great things come to those who wait, and that might be the case with a recruit coming back home to play for the Illinois basketball team.
Back in 2018, the Illini were trying to build a great class. We had Chicago legend Ayo Dosunmu sign up ready to take the state program back to prominence. A solid piece to that puzzle at the time could have been Francis Okoro. The Orange and Blue were hot and heavy for the young big man, but he ended up picking the Oregon Ducks over the Fighting Illini.
At the time, Okoro was a 6-foot-9, 225-pound center coming out of Normal Community West High School in Normal, Illinois. He was rated as a four-star recruit who was the No. 54 player in the class of 2018 and the No. 7 center in the nation. He was also the second-best player in the state of Illinois, right behind Ayo.
Oregon snagged a good one in Okoro. I was disappointed to see the big man departed the state. But things didn’t go as planned with the Ducks. As a freshman, Okoro averaged 3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in the 13.6 minutes of action each night.
A progression needed to be made from Okoro’s freshman to sophomore year, but that didn’t happen. He averaged 17.2 minutes as a sophomore and only put up 3.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest. These aren’t the numbers of a borderline top 50 recruit from the class of 2018. The development just wasn’t there with Oregon. But do you know who can develop big men?
Brad Underwood.
This past Friday, Okoro announced he had entered his name into the transfer portal. He is leaving the Oregon program. Sometimes things just don’t work out. He is now looking for a new home where he can develop and play at a more consistent level. Do you know where Okoro could get playing time?
Illinois.
Now hear me out, I know it looks like Okoro’s game hasn’t developed while at Oregon. But could it be that the Ducks just can’t develop big men? That is a possibility.
Underwood and his coaching staff have done some amazing things with big men who have come through the program. They made Giorgi Bezhanishvili look like a solid center in year one. This past season they helped Kofi Cockburn win Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and NBA scouts are looking at him as a potential pick in the upcoming draft.
That brings me to my next point about playing time. Illinois needs another big man for the future. The best-case scenario is Kofi not hiring an agent and coming back for his sophomore season. But, after that, he is gone to the NBA without a doubt.
Okoro could transfer into Illinois, sit out a year per the NCAA transfer rules currently in place, and then dominate as a junior for the 2021-22 campaign. That would make him the starter the first year he is eligible to play. In addition to the starting role, Okoro could learn a lot from Kofi while sitting out his transfer year. This would help the young big man develop even more.
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I see some people shooting down the idea of going after Okoro in the transfer market. I think these fans should look at this as an opportunity to land a big man who Underwood can develop into an NBA talent. Let’s bring Okoro home and make him a part of the team he always should have been on, the Illinois Fighting Illini.